Business
Tenet finances fall
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 5, 2004
Wincing from more than ayear of legal and financial setbacks, hospital giant Tenet Healthcare Corp. delivered more bad news to investors with the announcement of its $954 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2003.
The loss, equal to $2.05 per share, compared with a net loss of $31 million, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier. Much of it was blamed on costs associated with plans to sell hospitals and adjustments, with Tenet taking restructuring and impairment charges of nearly $1.5 billion for the quarter. However, Tenet's revenue fell as well, to $3.2 billion from $3.5 billion a year earlier.
For 2003, Tenet posted a net loss of $1.5 billion, or $3.17 per share, compared with net income of $817 million, or $1.64 per share, in 2002. Revenue fell to $13.2 billion from $13.6 billion.
Tenet has come under fire in the last 16 months with government investigations of its billing practices and relationships with physicians. The company has outlined several measures it has taken to reverse its fortunes, including a leadership overhaul and plans to shed 27 hospitals and refocus operations on 69 core hospitals.
Also, Tenet announced earlier in March that it would fulfill a promise to an advocacy group to offer discount prices to uninsured patients regardless of their incomes.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/04/05/bibf0405.htm.
